


Everybody Needs Good Neighbours

by tielan



Series: The House That Jack Built [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG1
Genre: AU, College AU, Gen, Humor, The House That Jack Built
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-22
Updated: 2010-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-13 23:21:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/142829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/pseuds/tielan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's her apartment, her space, her life. But then there's the neighbours...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everybody Needs Good Neighbours

**Author's Note:**

> "The House That Jack Built" is an SG1/SGA college AU with the premise that all the main characters (and some recurring ones) from the shows are students who are sharing a residential building that Jack O'Neill manages. Wacky student hijinks follow. Teyla is sharing an apartment with Janet on the 3rd floor. Or about to start. Timelines get a little confused around here.

Teyla leaned back against the door, listening to the blessed, blessed sound of her family tromping down the stairs and out of the building.

She slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor, her spine pressed firmly against the wood as she regarded the kitchen and common room of her apartment.

 _Her_ apartment. _Her_ space. _Her_ life.

A life away from her family: away from Halling and his intimidation of the boys who drove her home from school; away from Tricia and her suggestions of slinky, backless tops and tight leather pants; away from Jackie and her near-constant teasing; away from Sharon and her gentle, motherly concern that Teyla appreciated but also resented at times.

Her own life.

All hers.

Blessed mother, Teyla was going to _enjoy_ this.

She _didn’t_ enjoy the unexpected knock on the door that jolted her spine and skull where it rested against the door. Reflexively, she scooted across the kitchen floor, away from the door. Janet was gone - she and her daughter would be staying with her parents tonight, and Teyla was to have the place to herself before they returned the next day.

So who was this?

“Who’s there?”

“Hey, it’s Cameron Mitchell. I’m one of your new neighbours. Thought I’d come around and check on you.” The voice was easy, friendly, with a slight southern drawl to it.

Teyla climbed to her feet, grabbed the small bat Halling had turned for her from a solid pine branch - complete with its own leather loop to hang on the back of the door - and opened the door to cautiously regard her visitor.

A young man stood on the welcome mat, clean-shaven, with an open, frank smile, and blue eyes beneath neatly-cut brown hair.

“Hey there,” he said. “I’m Cam from 403. You’re Teyla.” At her lifted eyebrow, he shrugged. “Kinda hard to miss it when your family’s yelling it all day.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Cameron Mitchell,” Teyla said, keeping her left hand - the hand with the bat - behind the door, and extending her right for a handshake. “You are also a student at Cheyenne University?”

“When the mood takes me,” he said, smiling down at her as he leaned his shoulder against the door. “I do a lot of things here and there. What’s your major?”

“PoliSci.”

“Hey, Liz Weir is doing that. She’s right downstairs from you in 301. Have you met anyone else in the building yet? Other than Janet, of course. And Mr.O’Neill.”

The easy chatter was disarming. Teyla found herself fighting a smile of amusement. “Not yet,” she said. “We passed some of the occupants on the first floor--”

“Right. That would be Zelenka and Quinn in 101, and Lindsay and Miko in 102. Nerd Central.”

The declaration was casual and easy, without any of the usual scorn of a fit young man for those less physically endowed than himself. Teyla lifted an eyebrow, intrigued. “I see.”

“Our floor is Cool Central, of course. You, me, Janet; my roomies John and Vala...”

“You are in 403?”

“We are, indeed. And, by the way, I don’t bite.”

Teyla blinked at the abrupt change in topic. “I am sorry?”

“You’re kind of tense. I’m not an axe-murderer, you know.”

She imagined that Cameron Mitchell’s smile had worked on scores of girls before her, an unconscious magic he wielded much like a dancer’s grace - part of the overall effect but not deliberately exercised.

“If you were,” she said solemnly, “you would not admit it.”

“That’s not the point. The point is that you’re probably holding onto a baseball bat behind that door. My grandma would hate to think that she hadn’t done a good job of making me seem harmless.”

“She only helped you to _seem_ harmless?”

The charming smile turned to a broad grin. “You got me there. I’m not gonna hurt you. Scout’s honour.” Teyla eyed his upraised hand and he glanced at it for a moment, then dropped it sheepishly. “Keep hold of your bat if it makes you feel better, but can you at least open the door so I feel like less of a stalker - or, worse: a door-to-door salesman?”

“You presume that your feelings matter to me.”

“ _Ouch._ ” Cameron slapped one palm over his heart, but he was still smiling as she opened the door and displayed the bat she’d been holding. “Note to self: don’t piss off the neighbour with the miniature bat.”

“Amendment: do not piss off your neighbour, period,” Teyla advised, although she hung the bat back beside the door with a sigh for her lost hours of peace. She had the feeling that Cameron Mitchell was not a man who was easily dislodged, and yet she did not wish to seem unwelcoming. “You should come in.”

“Glad to,” he said, walking into the kitchen and leaning back against the benchtop with familiar ease. Teyla approved of the pose since it gave her a nice view of the breadth of his shoulders and the muscles beneath his t-shirt. As Jackie was wont to croon, just because you couldn’t afford the penthouse was no reason to disdain the view.

Still, Teyla left the door wide open. It was not that she didn’t trust Cameron Mitchell, but she was not yet so comfortable with the apartment that she was willing to share the enclosed space with a stranger, however charming he might be.

In fact, his charm was all the more reason to be wary.

“Janet’s not home tonight?”

“She is with her parents.”

Cameron glanced at the left-open door but didn’t say anything about it. “She’s got Cassie this week, doesn’t she? Cutest kid I ever saw - bright as a button. You don’t mind kids?”

“If I did, I would not have moved in.” Years of living with Sharon Athos had drilled her in the niceties of hospitality, and for all that she tried, she couldn’t help from asking, “Would you like a drink? We have water, sweet tea, or beer.”

Expecting him to choose the beer, Teyla was startled when his eyes lit up. “You’ve got sweet tea?”

“My sister Tricia made some before she left.”

“Damn. Yes, please, ma’am!”

Teyla poured them both glasses of sweet tea over ice, smiling to herself. His ‘damn’ had come out with a distinctly Southern drawl - _dayum_. Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later.

“You wouldn’t just happen to be Southern?” Cameron demanded after a sip. “‘Cause this comes pretty damn close to my grandma’s sweet tea.”

“SoCal girl,” she told him, laughing. “However, I shall take that as a compliment.”

“I’d be wary of his compliments,” said a voice by the door. “They’re not always what they seem.”

Teyla turned, startled by the appearance of a second visitor at her door. Her first impression was black hair, a long face and a wide mouth. Not as handsome as Cameron although equally tall; and slimmer, not as well-muscled. Still, he seemed friendly, with an appealing air of shyness.

Cameron was unabashed by the comment, he remained leaning lazily against the kitchen bench. “You calling me a liar, Shep?”

‘Shep’ shrugged, remaining in the door. His eyes flickered to Teyla and he smiled. “Hey. John Sheppard. I room with Cam.”

“Teyla Emmagan.”

He came in - not as Cameron had, assured of his welcome - but far enough in to shake warm hands before he tucked them carefully in his pockets. “Pleased to meet you. How long has he been pestering you?”

Teyla liked the look of him, the way his lips only just curved - the sense of a smile rather than an actual smile. If Cameron’s charm was brash, John Sheppard’s charm was a shyer brand.

“Not long at all,” she assured him. “My family had just left.”

“And you were enjoying having your own space,” John surmised with a sharp look at Cameron.

Cameron looked at her, surprised. “You said I should come in.”

“Maybe she was just too polite to tell you to bug off.”

“It is no trouble to meet my neighbours in the building,” Teyla said, interrupting Cameron’s retort with a pointed look at John. She appreciated his consideration, but first impressions were important, and she did not wish to gain a reputation for being unfriendly towards her new neighbours.

Even if he was right.

“But you’d like some time to yourself,” said John.

It wasn’t a question. And in spite of the fact that she was truly perfectly comfortable with Cameron sitting at her kitchen table, drinking her tea, Teyla felt a rush of pleasure that John had understood.

“It is Saturday night,” she said with a reassuring smile for Cameron, who was looking a little crestfallen. “That is not usually a time for sitting quietly at home.”

“It’s your first night in your new home.” John glanced around. “You had your family helping you move in all day. I’d say you’re entitled to some time to yourself.”

“I can have time alone tomorrow,” she said, making herself sound firm. Yes, she wished for some time to herself - just a little period where she could sit back and enjoy the silence of her own place uninterrupted - but these people were her neighbours and it would not be polite to just send them away.

“Hey, look, I didn’t mean to intrude,” Cameron said, standing up and draining his glass. “And if I don’t bug out of here, I think John’s gonna drag me out. So, I’ll say thank you for the tea, Teyla, and I’m sorry to have been a pain in the ass on your first afternoon in the building.”

“You are welcome to the tea,” she said honestly. “And your company was no hardship.” That was a little less honest, but a polite lie would harm no-one.

“If you need anything, you let us know, okay?”

Teyla felt her lips turn up at the corners, almost helplessly. Cameron Mitchell was much like an eager puppy in his manner, only wishing to please. How could she not react to that with kindness? “I will.”

As he left, his tail not quite between his legs, he jostled John, who jostled him out into the corridor but stayed in her door.

“Enjoy your night,” John said with a smile. “Hey, you know, if you get bored, you can come over. We’ll just be watching the football game - Air Force vs. Colorado State.”

“But she has to cheer for the Air Force!” Cameron called from out in the corridor. “And bring sweet tea!”

Teyla laughed at the natural ebullience of the guy, then blushed a little as John gave her that rueful half-smile. “You don’t have to, okay? It’s just an option if you want company later, that’s all. You might not, now that you’ve got your own space and everything.”

“Thank you.” Teyla tried to hold his gaze, to let him know without words how grateful she was for the respite. “I may take you up on your invitation. But later.”

Now he grinned, a brief, boyish flash of delight that transformed his face. “You’re welcome when you do.” And with a last glance that lingered long enough to caress her ego, John Sheppard turned on his toe and went across the hall to the open door of his apartment.

Teyla closed the door behind her new neighbours with a smile.


End file.
